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I just want to reserve this book for my library and I don't seem to be able to like I used to do.

branch_reviews
Nov 03, 2012

This historical novel was inspired by the real-life experiences of the author’s father-in-law.
Marshall Stone was a 23 year old U.S. pilot who survived the crash-landing of his fighter plane in a Belgian field during World War II. He is now a 60 year old widower, facing mandatory retirement from his fulfilling career as a pilot. Finding himself at loose ends, and unable to stop thinking about the past, Marshall sets out for Paris to try to find the people who risked their lives to help hide him and guide him to safety so long ago.
The novel moves between Marshall’s recollections of the events and the people of the past and his present-day quest to find those people who played such a significant role in his survival.
Through Marshall’s remembrances we see the members of the Resistance who often risked their lives to help downed airmen, and we realize, as does Marshall, the high price of war to those who lived through it.
The person who affected him the most, and the clearest memory he has, is of the courageous teenage girl who protected and guided him in occupied France - the girl in the blue beret.
“Ushering her readers back and forth across the decades, she (Mason) perfectly weaves history with fiction. In many ways the book is a tribute to these unsung civilians whose heroism often was never acknowledged by those they helped. [A] near-perfect war story.” USA Today. Reviewed by SK.

Reaching mandatory retirement age in his job as an airline pilot and recently widowed, Marshall Stone decides to spend some time in France. He wants to find and thank those people in the Resistance who sheltered and moved him through France to Spain after his plane was shot down in WWII. One in particular is the girl in the blue beret. When Stone discovers the back story of his adventure, he hears tales told through their eyes that are very different than he's ever considered. He finally grows up, I think. It's quite a compelling novel based on several real life stories, including that of the author's uncle. Highly recommended.

For anyone who likes historical novels about WWII this was really good. Gave me a different perspective on the French & Belgian people & how they endangered their lives for the American fliers who were downed during the war.

This book was a disappointment as the author enjoys a very good reputation and I found this book wanting. The girl of the title was just too good to be true. She was a cardboard character as were many others in this novel. This was chick lit, not literature.

This was an interesting book as far as its WWII perspective. Never had really considered the occupation of France and downed American pilots, or that the French would be sent to concentration camps for "interfering". Got a little bogged down with all the airlplane jargon, but the story of a man's search for the people who saved him from a horrible fate was very touching.